Never Alone
by Porkchop's Little Ditty
Summary: Coming home to an empty house is depressing. Realizing you were never alone from an unlikely source is mind blowing. Always look underneath the underneath.. or just let things happen the way they were meant to be. KakaSaku
1. Welcome to This World

Dusk was beginning to fall upon Konoha in a pleasing mixture of purples and pinks. Garden boxes that hung along the store front windows were in bloom with crocuses, daffodils and tulips. Winter had finally receded to spring showers and patches of green grass replaced the once snow covered ground. 

Ordinarily, every Sunday afternoon the members of Team 7 would meet in a chosen restaurant for an early supper and to spend a good part of the evening laughing over their meal and drinks. Even if the four could not all be present, whoever was not away on a mission would still go out not to break the unspoken tradition.

Tonight was no different than many Sunday's prior. Sakura was always the ever present member. Being a medic, most of her work revolved around being at the hospital and therefore she remained within the village most of the time. It never bothered her to be the one left behind. She had her place in the larger scheme of things within Konoha and she took great pride tending to those wounded while servicing their beloved village.

There had been plenty of Sunday afternoons that she found herself staying in because she was the only one not on a mission. Those weeks were hard for her. She looked forward to spending time with her adopted shinobi family since losing her parents to the last invasion of Konoha. Had Sakura not been at the hospital that night, she too would have suffered the same fate as her mother and father. She did not know whether it was a curse or a blessing to be the sole survivor of her family. It was something she had many years to think over, yet it was one of those thoughts she never liked to spend much time on.

Loneliness was not a stranger to Sakura. She found joy and comfort in those Sunday suppers with her boys.. whether it be spent with all or one of them. Tonight she found herself in the company of her former sensei, Kakashi Hatake. The boys had been out on a mission for the last month and Kakashi made it a point to be around so she did not have to spend their little get togethers at home reading a magazine while waiting for her nail polish to dry.

He was always very considerate of Sakura. Especially when it came down to her emotions. From the time she was a cute little 12 year old genin, Kakashi Hatake, a man who never felt the need to explain himself to anyone always did so for her. In his composure he was never a blundering fool around her, but something about Sakura always left him blurting out the answers she so desperately needed. For years he had chalked it up to the fact that she was always mentally and intellectually light years ahead of Sasuke and Naruto.

After several hours of what seemed like a never ending montage of food and drink, Kakashi insisted he walk Sakura home. Just as he or one of the others did every time they all went out. It wasn't done as a matter of protection. They did it out of respect for her. True she is a well seasoned kunoichi, but underneath it all she was still a lady. A lady that deserved to be treated as such in the presence of a gentlemen. When in good company that the conversation flows without any uncomfortable silences, who would want the night to end so abruptly after the check gets paid anyhow?

And so the two long time friends set out on their walk back to Sakura's place just as they would any other week.  
"I'm so tired, Kakashi."

"Then you should make it a point to go to sleep as soon as you get home." He smiled back at her. His visible eye creased, indicating a smile under his mask.

"Baka." She blurted out. "That's not what I meant."

"Then why don't you tell me exactly what you mean, Sakura. I'm not good at reading minds, you know."

"Don't you ever get tired of going home to an empty house?" She asked him with one eye cocked to her side to see his expression as they continued to walk.

When his response came in the form of his eye roaming her face for a more detailed question, Sakura let out a short sigh before proceeding with getting to her point.

"As shinobi, we go on life threatening missions as a form of income, patriotism to our village, the thrill of risking our lives.. whatever reason we do it for; we just do it. During those missions, we spend a lot of time with people we know and consider family. The nature of most missions requires us to be stealthy and not make much or any noise." She paused for moment to gather her thoughts and catch her breath before continuing. "We do not waste any time in sharing affections for one another because it's unprofessional and creates an unnecessary risk to the entire team." With this, Kakashi nodded in agreement, but remained silent to let her finish her thought.

"What I am getting at Kakashi is, after spending so much time with people and feeling alone due to the circumstances, when you come home; do you ever wish you had someone there waiting for you- to talk to, to greet you, to welcome you home with open arms.. to ask you how your mission went?"

Kakashi's facial expression softened as his thoughts raced through his mind. As quickly as he let it show, his went back to his more stoic appearance. Sakura was taken back by his reaction to the question and wondered what it was he may have stumbled upon.

Was he really thinking about the question?

Did he have a real answer and an even better story to cover up how he really felt?

Was she prying to far into his personal space by asking such a thing?

Suddenly Sakura felt that maybe some questions should not be asked to certain people. Being the recluse Kakashi was well known to be, was he the wrong person to have this conversation with? And then her answer came.

"I find serenity in my solitude." Was the non-committal answer he decided to go with.

Not the answer Sakura was expecting. She was hoping for something more elaborate. Something a tad more personal that he felt free to share openly with her. That wasn't his style though and she knew it. How dare she think for a moment that she was going to be on the receiving end of something along the lines of a heart felt reply.

She was disappointed and it must have shown.

"That was some question there Sakura-chan. You must have had plenty of time to think it through." He floundered with his words trying to smooth over the conversation and lessen the tension his bland answer had caused. He nervously added, "None the less, it was good."

"Who are you trying to kid, Kakashi? If it was such a good question, you would have had a better answer then something you read in an academy text book some years ago." She snapped harshly back at him, stopping dead in her tracks. "Your answer was something as cold and impersonal as I would expect from Sasuke. Not you."

Kakashi stood and stared at her, tongue tied for a lack of a better response then his standardly issued; "I'm sorry, Sakura." Thinking better of how he should reply, he followed the apology up with "I suppose when you say that you're tired, you mean of having no one to talk to at home."

"Very." She answered curtly. Not wanting the night to end on a bitter note and try to make good use of Kakashi's stupendous attempt at clearing the air she toned her temper down several notches and dove in head first with sharing how she felt for so long.

"I know I may never be as strong as Sasuke or Naruto and I'm fine with that fact. I am an emotional being, as you well know."

Kakashi nodded in agreement while truly listening to what the pink haired kunoichi had to get off her chest.

Still stopped from walking, Sakura opted to stare aimlessly at her feet. "I spent much of my life facing up to so much rejection and let downs. I could never have the stamina and determination Naruto possesses; yet I pushed myself to be the personal best I could be. I devoted myself to Sasuke for so much of my teen years to only have him discard me like week old left overs in his fridge... And yet I held my head up high around him in self preservation. I always looked up to you and Tsunade and tried my best to please you both, so you knew your teaching efforts were never a waste of your time."

She let out a frustrated sigh as she looked up to face Kakashi.

"I'm not saying I am perfect; because no one really is. I just want some of the devotion I have put out there to be given back to me." She bit her lip and creased her eyes before finishing what she had to say. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life going home to an empty house."

Kakashi's heart clenched at words from the utterly honest woman that stood before him. Her tale of loneliness made him think how many times he himself had felt the same. He had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but it certainly did not mean he never shared the same thoughts as her.

Not being able to shake the detached person he became so many years ago, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and smiled under his mask.

"Someday Sakura, you will go home to find your house filled with the love and happiness you want and deserve."

Sakura cocked a disbelieving eyebrow up in the air.

"You know I adore you through and through Kakashi." She replied kindly to his reassurance. "But could you have come up with any more of a generic answer? I mean really, am I talking to Kakashi Hatake or a writer of greeting cards?"

He opened his visible eye a bit wider at her cutting words only to relax upon seeing her hand go to her mouth as she giggled like a little girl.

"Oh. You find this funny. I was being sincere and trying to instill some hope.."

She cut him off quickly as laughter erupted all the way from her belly and out of her mouth. "The thought of you writing greeting cards... that's just priceless! Maybe erotic greeting cards that are given out at a bachelor party. I could see someone more philosophical like Gai-sensei doing such a thing, but you? Never!"

Kaskashi started laughing out loud with her. Years of history between himself and his pupils, now turned team mates and friends had softened his stearn and structured persona around them. "Yeah. I can see him having his own line of cards and calling it 'Green Gai Greetings'." An accidental snort escaped his nose upon finishing his sentence.

With that, Sakura started laughing so hard her eyes were watering as she held her belly. It was a real laugh. Not one of those forced laughs that people do when they feel obligated to give a reaction to something another person is saying. It was as genuine as the bond these two shared with one another.

As the laughter died down and they resumed walking, Sakura turned to Kakashi and simply stated, "I can never grow tired of having you around."

"Awe, Sakura-chan. Even if in your mind I am only capable of dirty thoughts; you still would not get tired of me?" he reciprocated as she smiled with an affirmative nod. "I'll have you know though, I can be quite philosophical."

The thought of Kakashi's nose buried in his pornographic smut stories flashed in her mind as her eyebrow arched up in doubt. Perhaps he meant he was philosophical in a Larry Flynt sort of way. She was in no mood to ponder further into his meaning. Right now she just wanted to enjoy the rest of their walk and bantering.

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A/N: It's a start.. I think ?? I have been sitting on this story for months now. I never got enough courage up to post it until I saw that the 'M' rated section for KakaSaku stories has not had anything new for days. I'm sure there are other reads out there (such as myself) looking for something new to read. Hope you enjoy it. 


	2. To Defy the Laws of Tradition

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of Kishimoto-sama's work or characters. I am just purely engrossed in them all.

**A/N: **I wanted to thank everyone that read and reviewed the first chapter. I apologize greatly to those I may have not replied to. It does not mean I was less appreciative of your response.

In reply to an anonymous private message I received, my pen name 'Porkchop's Little Ditty' is the title of a Primus song. It has nothing to do with 'P. Diddy', therefore the word 'Ditty' is not a typo. Thank you for bringing it to my attention though. So there is no other confusion, this chapter is also named after a Primus song title; just as the all chapters will be named a song title or line from one of their songs.

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Sakura and Kakashi continued their walk back to Sakura's apartment building. It was a chilly early spring night and the air was fragrant and crisp. The moon was just a few days shy of being full and was casting shadows upon the two solitary figures strolling down the streets of Konoha.

Sakura hurried a few steps in front of Kakashi as they reached the gate surrounding her building to unlock it for them both. As she turned to invite him in, she was greeted by a poof of smoke and he was gone.

She rolled her eyes and thought to herself, '_Just like him to leave and not even say goodnight._' as she fumbled through her bag for her house key.

She twisted the key in the doorknob and turned back to look behind her once more. She spoke out loud to the person that was no longer there.

"Thanks for a wonderful night Kakashi. I would have liked to have thanked you face to face; maybe even given you a kiss on the cheek... But, I know how it is with you. I'm sure you have something important to do and you already spent too much time with me." She looked down at the ground and frowned momentarily before adding, "Sweet dreams." and turned on her heel to enter her empty apartment.

Once entering the foyer, she closed the door and switched on the light. She removed her sandals and jacket and hung her bag on the hooks next to the door. She stood in thought for a moment with one hand placed on her hip and the other on her forehead; wondering what it was she had to do next.

When no thoughts of great significance came to mind, she turned and shouted sarcastically, "Hi honey. I'm home" before heading to the stairs to her bedroom. A shower sounded like a good idea. The restaurant was smoky and she could smell it on her clothing.

As her foot hit the first step, she was surprised to hear a response to her prior statement.

"So, how was your day dear?"

Nearly jumping out of her own skin, she turned to see a shadowy figure leaning against the counter top in her dark kitchen. Too stunned to talk, she clutched her chest and gasped for air like a fish out of water.

"By the way, no need to thank me; even though we are currently face to face. I actually really enjoy our nights out. I am however interested in seeing if you would have kissed me on the cheek." He smirked from behind his infamous mask."Oh yes, and as for having sweet dreams; you know, I never actually tasted any of my dreams. I'm curious if you have sampled any of your own being you seem to know what they taste like."

"Ka-ka... You nearly caused me to have a heart attack!" Words finally found her.

"Well, you were right about me having something more important to do. After our conversation on the way back here, I couldn't possibly let you walk into an empty house."

Sakura's eyes glimmered with appreciation. She gave him a warm smile that said a million words. "I was going to invite you in, you know. This on the other hand was by far a more interesting way to end the night."

"You can say that again... You should have seen the look of horror on your face as you turned around. I'd pay a months salary to see that again."

She moved quickly to approach him. Her normal reaction would be to clobber him with one of her unnaturally forceful punches. What she did instead was all the more unnatural than her brute force. She wrapped her arms around Kakashi in a thankful embrace. Her voice muffled by the thick fabric of his vest, she muttered "I can't believe you heard everything I said out there."

"After all these years you really should know me better by now." He simply stated as she released her grip from him.

Looking up at her ex-sensei, Sakura placed a hand on his right clothed cheek. He stiffened up, not sure of her intent. She then inched herself up on the tip of her toes and placed an innocent peck upon his left cheek.

"Wow, Sakura. Now I know why Sasuke and Naruto insist on walking you home." She blushed at his insinuation that came complete with a wink.

"Oh, it's not like that at all." She quickly retorted. "You see, Sasuke seems to do it out of obligation. He never accepts my invitation to come in unless he needs to use the bathroom. Where as Naruto does it as a chance to scope out my fridge for 'interesting' left overs."

Kakashi grimaced, not that Sakura could see with his mask in place. "Figures" he mumbled.

Switching on the kitchen light, "Being you're here, why don't you make yourself comfortable and I'll get a pot of coffee started." She smiled all too happy to have not just company, but good company at that.

Kakashi nodded at her and out of politeness to the invite, he removed his vest and placed it on the back of a barstool that sat along side others, under the island in her kitchen.

Four.

He counted four stools and wondered just how often she had all of them occupied at any given time.

"I forgot that this is the first time you ever walked me home on a Sunday night, Kakashi."

"Hmm?" He was pulled from his previous thoughts just as he was pulling down his mask.. "Funny thing that is, huh? I wasn't aware that I hadn't until just now."

His eye took in the neat pile of papers on top of the island. There was an assortment of color swatches and fabric samples all labeled with the designated room each was for. Just as he was about to pick up the first set and glance at the next, Sakura placed a cup of coffee, spoon, napkin and a luncheon plate in front of him.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan."

She nodded in observation and placed a basket of biscotti down before taking a seat next to him and glaring at his unmasked face.

"Do I have something on my face?" Kakashi asked sarcastically after swallowing his first sip of coffee. His shinobi intuition felt the heavy weight of her stare. She had asked him to make himself comfortable, therefore he did.

It wasn't that she had never seen his face before. She just never seen it so up close in decent lighting. There was no denying that he was quite good looking. Her face heated to a delightful shade of crimson at being caught gawking.

"Of course not. My apologies for staring. I just never seen your face for any long period of time." The last thing she wanted to do was to make him feel self conscious, so she opted to tell him what she thought. "I hope you're aware of how handsome you really are."

She decided this was the perfect time to change the subject; immediately after he thanked her for the compliment.

"I have been hemming and hawing over remodeling this place." Her hand motioned to the pile that Kakashi was looking at. "Nothing has been done since the repairs were made after the funeral." Referring to her parents deaths and the damage the house had taken during the attacks.

Kakashi listened intently. He had been to Sakura's house many of times (even if it was not to walk her home from a night out). It was always clean and neat, everything was coordinated, yet it did seem somewhat outdated. He saw her reasons for wanting to renovate. It was beyond just wanting to look at different colored walls. She needed the house to feel more like her own. If she was ever going to move on from the tragedy of losing her parents, she needed to erase some of their personal touches that were a constant reminder of that loss.

"Would you like to take a look at what I put together?"

"Sure"

He really was interested in seeing her plans. He couldn't help thinking that somewhere in the mix of rich textures and a pleasant pallet of colors, how glad he was the night was not over. Of course, he could have been home alone as well reading his prized Icha Icha book, but he realized during dinner how much he liked spending time with just her.

She was smart, interesting and had a great smile to coincide with her sense of humor. She was very grounded in every aspect of the word; right down to her fashionable, yet conservative way of dressing. She didn't need to go overboard with gaudy clothing or makeup for anyone to clearly see how naturally beautiful she was.

"..And I am still somewhat unsure of how the den should be." Sakura finished.

"Do you still have that billiard table in there?"

She nodded a confirmation.

"Care to play?" He hesitated for a moment. "If it's not to late for you."

"I have off tomorrow and the night is young." Sakura looked at the clock on her stove. It read 12:30 am. "Looks like you're going down Ka -Ka- Shi." she said while pointing her fingers to the ground and puffing up her shoulders; mocking to be a pro- wrestler.

"Oh, it's on, Pinky."

Her face contorted with horror. "Pinky?" she repeated.

"You heard me right." and he wandered off to the den with his cup of coffee in hand.

_'This ought to be interesting.'_ She contemplated and followed his lead.


	3. The Toys Go Winding Down

Thank you to all that have been following this story. I appreciate the reviews and I am overwhelmed by how many more have this story on alert. I just ask that if you like the story enough to receive alerts, please review it as well. Your motivation is what keeps me writing.. whether it's good or bad feedback.

This chapter has a little fluff... I'd rather call it eroticism. Just a little something to feed your KakaSaku-ness Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** I own myself, my kids and the contents of my house. However, if I break the law I'd become property of the state as a prisoner, the state has more rights over my kids than I do as their biological parent and my house really belongs to the bank until I pay it off... With that said, I don't own anything, including the characters of Naruto. Sucks to be me.

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Two hours, a pot of coffee and four games of straight pool later, Sakura was unable to claim one victory from under Kakashi. She had come to the simple conclusion that there was nothing the man was not capable of doing. What really had her astonished was the fact she could hurl a kunai from 50 meters and hit her mark dead on, but yet she was having difficulty sinking a ball in a hole at close range. 

It didn't matter to her though. Despite her defeat, she couldn't remember the last time she had a good time just being at home. Kakashi seemed to be enjoying himself as well. He was his normal relaxed self, not even taking notice of the time that was now 2:30 in the morning.

What he did take note of though was the lean muscular build the back of Sakura's thighs had as she stretched over the table to align her cue. It's not that he never realized how shapely she had become. In fact, he was acutely aware of how well she developed from being a lanky 12 year old to a dangerously curvaceous beauty at 23 years of age. Ex- student or not, she definitely grew up to be the kind of woman that could make him turn his head for a second look.

Staring at Sakura came with a healthy fear that any man should harbor. Approaching someone of her intelligence and beauty was intimidating. Saying the wrong thing or ogling a woman with her superhuman strength could prove to be deadly. Making an advance on her though would require a lot of guts and determination. Regardless of any warnings flashing through his mind, Kakashi could not tear his eyes away.

He lifted his range of view higher, reaching the bottom of her shorts. Just a few inches higher and he could clearly distinguish the fleshy mounds that were her lower buttocks. Just enough peeked out timidly from the hem of her skirt. Kakashi's gut wretched in a tumult of guilt as he imagined how soft Sakura's posterior would feel against the palm of his hands while torridly claiming her body. He shouldn't look at her this way and yet he can't stop. He doesn't want to stop if he doesn't have to.

A mere few inches above that sat the opened zipper on the back of her skirt. Between the two rows of zipper teeth was the seam of her shorts. It rested perfectly in the valley that separated her hindquarters; leaving so little for the imagination and making his jaw involuntarily drop. He realizes he never looked at her with such indecorous intent.

Sakura emitted a sigh of frustration that quickly ruptured Kakashi's current fixation on her rear end. He efficiently composed himself by shutting his mouth and standing straight up. He believes she has caught him and is humbled by the thought she is likely disappointed.

"Is there some sort of science to breaking the set, Kakashi?" she questioned. "It seems that no matter what angle I shoot from, I can not get the balls to separate like you do."

Kakashi takes in a deep breath before pondering over her current position and saw nothing wrong in her stance or angle she was shooting from. He is thankful Sakura did not notice he was undressing her with his eyes.

"Hmm." was his initial reply; letting her know he was thinking it over. "Why don't you draw back your stick and go through the motions of how you would hit the cue ball?"

Sakura nodded and followed his instructions. Kakashi was able to see where the problem resided.

"You're making contact on the top portion of the cue ball, which slows the momentum down significantly. You need to use force and hit the ball either dead center or just below to make a decent break." He spoke to her the same way he had as her sensei.

"Alright. I'll try it that way then."

Sakura pulled her stick back once more and set herself up for the shot. Before she could follow through, she felt a strong grip around her right hand that was holding the lower portion of her pool cue.

"You're lifting the back end too high in the air." Kakashi moved himself behind her. "By doing that, you're still going to connect too high above center."

Sakura could feel his chest rise and fall against her back with every breath he took. His inner thigh rested against her outer left thigh as his right arm ran along the back of hers. His right knee was shoved between her opened legs. She knew his intentions were to show her what she was doing wrong, but it just felt more like a position two lovers would engage in; rather than a 'teacher' and 'pupil'. Although she wasn't scared or uncomfortable, their close proximity made her jitter.

"Show me, sensei." She managed to croak out; trying not to sound conscious of the current situation.

Anytime Kakashi showed her something new she would refer to him as 'sensei' for the sake of nostalgia. She knew he disliked her calling him a title that was reserved for a mentor and not someone of equal status, but it was her way of teasing him. She observed the fact they were both jonins, but she still held a higher respect for him being he taught her how to be a ninja. What Sakura did not realize was that her shaky tone of voice paired up with his previously prying eyes only added to his heightened arousal.

He pushed his body harder against hers, obliging to her request for guidance . His groin was pressed firmly against her left buttock and she could easily detect the size and location of his member. Shock and shame were first to enter her mind. She shouldn't be thinking about things that he likely was not sharing thoughts upon. She didn't want to be amused by the physical attention she was receiving, yet she was. She swallowed hard and silently cursed herself for allowing such ideas cross her mind.

Kakashi drew back the cue with her hand secured under his. He lowered his head down to her shoulder to align his sight on the ball, which earned him a sharp intake of breath from Sakura; who was pinned beneath him. Feeling the same sense of eroticism as his flustered friend, Kakashi flashed an all knowing smirk from behind her.

"Keep your arm level with the table and follow it through with all your might." He struggled to maintain some level of instruction. "This is how you do it, Sakura." he huskily muttered in her ear. She could barely think enough to process what he was saying. All she was able to register was the distinct tone he spoke to her in.

He plunged their arms straight forward, making contact with the cue ball. This sudden movement caused his crotch to slide up the side of her rump and the top of his knee to gently graze the warm folds of her outer labia through her shorts. As the balls at the other end of the table scattered, Sakura exhaled a frustrated groan.

Her reaction was all Kakashi needed to hear before his primal desires took over. Allowing his head to dip down to the nape of her neck, he inhaled a jaggedly feral breath to sample an unabashed whiff of her hair. His every movement was a swift and calculated affirmation of the seasoned shinobi he was honored as.

Sakura's mind and heart were running a race with no finish line. Something just took place between them and yet she was unsure if she perceived it wrong. She wanted to say something, but her mouth temporarily would not allow it. What if she fabricated the intensity of it all? If Kakashi did not observe that something transpired between them, discussing it could surely ruin their current relationship. She would have to choose her words wisely.

Just as she was about to speak, Kakashi took the initiative to say something to her. Sakura deserved more than a blatant display of lust. He had to stop this before things got out of line.

"You're hair smells great." Bad start, but he might as well go somewhere with it. "You still use the same shampoo as when you were a kid."

"Yeah..." Sakura looked at him as if he had multiple heads. "The same shampoo you wash your dog with."

Definitely a bad start, he mused. _Strike one._

"Let's make a deal, Sakura." Sensing her unsteadiness, he quickly changed the subject to something more appropriate and less insulting. "If you play your hardest and focus on this game, I will personally renovate this room for you... With your approval of selected colors and furnishings, of course."

"What?" was Sakura's stunned reply. She wasn't quite sure she really wanted to talk about what just took place, but she surely was not expecting to wager decorative changes. Placing bets was not what she had intended when she agreed to play billiards with him.

"No." she retorted, following her own question. "I'm having a good time with you, Kakashi... Let's just play the game and not gamble anything."

_Strike two._

Kakashi heard her discontent and thought better of what he was presenting to her. "Look Sakura, I'm sorry. I can completely understand that you might not be ready. The way this house is... it's the last piece you have of your parents. I had to go through the same thing when my father..."

Sakura quickly cut into where Kakashi was going with this, not wanting to give him the wrong impression or have a conversation over emotional battle wounds derived from loss.

"Oh, it's nothing like that at all." She shook her head at him. "I am well beyond ready for the change. It's just that I work a lot of hours at the hospital. When I come home, I don't want to be bothered with half torn up rooms and tools laying around. I like to come home, shower, eat and read a little before going to bed."

She chanced a glance at Kakashi to see if she still held his attention with her boring routine. Sure enough, he was still following what she was saying. Little did she know he was hoping and praying to every God, pagan or otherwise that he did not cross a fine line with her.

"Besides, I don't want to have to go through waking up to topless hot men swinging hammers while I parade around in a towel; trying to get ready for work."

Kakashi arched a dejected eyebrow her way. What woman (looking like Sakura does) _wouldn't _want to start everyday with good looking men checking her out? Then again, this is the Sakura that he knew to have a single crush her entire life. It shouldn't come as much of a shock.

Staying on topic and not deviating one bit, Kakashi was thinking up a plan for his pink haired friend, but not until he made sure the facts of the matter were clear. Going for the third strike was not on his agenda.

"So what you're telling me is the only reason you have not had this work done is due to general inconvenience?"

Sakura nodded in complete agreement. "That is the only reason. When my parents died, I received not only their life insurance and pensions, but their life savings as well. The note on the house was paid off in full through mortgage insurance." She paused a moment to consider whether she wanted to divulge all of her personal matters such as finances with Kakashi. He had always been there for her and he certainly was not a gossip like Ino.

Seeing him as no harm or threat to her, she continued."I have not touched that money at all... other than to invest it. I basically only have to pay for utilities, taxes and my personal needs."

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. It was clear to him that money was no object. She made a good living as the head medic in the hospital. In addition, she was collecting interest off of her investments. Nothing Sakura had said lead him to believe that she was not ready to get the work done for sentimental reasons.

"Have you considered renting a small apartment from month to month while the work is being done?" he asked as if the answer was so obvious.

"Of course I have." Sakura turned away so her back faced Kakashi. "That would mean moving from one empty place to another. The only difference would be that an apartment holds no memories that make being alone more bearable."

He knew Sakura hated coming home to an empty home. She had told him earlier that night. There was only one solution."Stay at my place then."

Sakura shook her head. "I couldn't impose on you in that way, Kakashi. It is very thoughtful of you to offer.."

"I would not have offered if I felt put out by having you over."

Her silence could have been taken many ways. She could be thinking of the most polite way to turn him down. Or, she could have been considering taking Kakashi up on the offering. Judging from the back of her head, it was hard to tell which way her thoughts were going.

Kakashi genuinely wanted to help Sakura. He also could not help but wonder what it would be like to live with a woman. Not just any woman, but a woman he felt would be his ideal if he were to ever find himself in a long term relationship.

He decided to help her along in making a decision. "I live closer to the hospital than you do. I'd give you my bedroom so you can have all the privacy you need."

Sakura turned around to face him. She was about to decline when Kakashi finalized the deal.

"I'm off this week and then I don't have any missions to go on for the next two months. The Hokage asked me to teach an advanced nin jutsu course to prep the chuunins taking the jonin test in June... You won't be alone."

Sakura leaned her head to one side in thought. "Alright, Kakashi. You got yourself a roommate. I insist though that I sleep on the couch. I do not want to interfere with your normal life."

"There is nothing normal about my life.." Kakashi shook his head and rolled his eyes. "We'll talk about it when the time comes. For now you just worry about hiring the contractors in the morning."

"Thanks for everything."

"Don't thank me. We still have a game to finish and I'm about to cream you." He smiled brightly at her. He was glad she was willing to stay with him.

"I don't know about that, old man. I got myself lessons from a regular pool shark while you were busy yapping away." Sakura teased him with a wink.

She supposed it wouldn't be so bad to live with Kakashi. So many years he had been a complete mystery to her. Soon her chance to look underneath the underneath would come.


	4. Mr Knowitall

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

Sakura rolled over onto her belly, with the Yellow Pages in hand. She propped her upper body onto a pillow before diligently thumbing through the pages searching for the letter 'H'.

_'Home Builders, Home Centers...' _She turned several pages at once.

'_Home Security.' _An unsatisfied smirk spread across her features._ 'Too far.'_ She slowed down to flip a few pages back.

_'Home Inspections... There it is. Home Improvements.'_

Her index finger came to rest on the third listing, 'Konoha Contracting'. She overheard two women in the grocery store praise the work of this particular company just last week. Reaching over to her nightstand, she picked up the phone and dialed.

As the phone rang, her thoughts strayed back to last night. She could not stop thinking about the way Kakashi had touched her. She had known the man for eleven years and never witnessed any aggressive behavior toward a female from him. Then again, this was the first time she was ever on the receiving end of his attentions, so how would she really know _how_ he was with any woman?

Sakura was pulled from her musing when a man answered on the other end of the phone.

"Good morning, Konoha Contracting. This is Masa speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hello. I was wondering if I can make an appointment for an in house consultation?"

"Alright. What sort of work are you looking to have done ma'am?"

"Well" she started, "I was hoping to have my entire house remodeled."

The man known to her only as Masa and for all of 30 seconds, paused for a moment before proceeding. It was not often that such an inquiry came in. Only someone with a lot of money could afford to contract a job of this size. Unless the house in question was a studio apartment. Which was likely the case.

"The whole house at once?"

"Yes."

Another lapse of silence ensued.

Masa went on gathering information. "Just how big of a house are we talking about?"

Sakura rattled off all the rooms of the house. "Two bedrooms, living room, dining room, den, kitchen.. Oh, and one and a half baths. I'm going to say approximately fifteen hundred square feet in total."

The man on the other end of the phone sat with his eyes wide. A home of that size in Konoha was considered large in comparison to the meager sized living spaces the village had to offer. With most citizens being professional ninja whom often were away on missions, the majority of housing was generally small apartments. A job of this size, depending on work detail, would pull in quite a bit of revenue and keep the company busy for a good month or so. It was an opportunity Masa did not wish to let his competition have a chance of getting.

"Are you available anytime today?" he asked, trying his best not to sound overly eager.

Sakura looked around her room. She could use some time to clean herself and the house up some. "It's 10:30 now. Would you be able to come over around 11:30?"

Masa smiled and silently pumped his fist in the air. He would be the first contractor to give an estimate. "Eleven thirty is fine by me. Will your husband be present as well, Mrs... I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Husband?" Sakura stuttered slightly. Before thinking it through she lied hastily."He'll be here... My name is Sakura, by the way." She was unsure if Masa asked about her having a husband or not so he could possibly over charge the 'unknowing female'. She had heard on several occasions that some businesses try to do that, thinking that a woman is an easy target to collect a higher profit on.

"Great, Sakura. I'll see you at 11:30 then. I look forward to meeting you and your husband"

"Likewise." Sakura was mentally fretting over finding a fake husband. An hour would not be enough time to find someone to stand in and get over to her house. "Would it be a problem if we moved the appointment up to one o'clock?"

"Sure." Masa replied. "I'll see you at one then."

Her hand darted out to click the receiver and get a dial tone. The only guy she could think of off the top of her head was the one she spent last night with. After all, she would be spending the construction time living with him. It was a perfect alibi. Without any hesitation she dialed Kakashi's number; hoping not to wake him.

_He had left around 4:00 in the morning. She was able to pull off winning the last game of the night after his handy instructions (and groping). Rather than gloat, she thanked him for always being so patient in offering instruction. She told him she would not have had been able to play so well without him._

She heard the line ring once.

_He grabbed his vest as she walked him to the door._ _Before she could thank him for such a wonderful time, he was quick to say it first. She was grateful that he had as good of a time as she did._

_With his mask still pooled around his neck, he leaned down with his eyes closed and place a chaste kiss on her cheek. Sakura immediately put her hand to her face, where his lips had just been. A slight hint of color graced her heated cheeks._

_Kakashi smiled sweetly at her."You don't always have to be the one giving out the kisses."_

_With a poof of smoke he was gone._

The line rang a second time.

Now Sakura sat there wondering if asking Kakashi to play the role of her husband was over the top. Something definitely changed between them last night... or at least shifted. She could not deny that she spent the remainder of her time awake and this morning thinking about him. She thought about everything from the erotic lesson to the perfectly gentle kiss goodnight.

Would asking him to play such a part seem like she was rushing or desperate to get herself into... what? What would she be getting herself into by asking a simple favor? This is a man that would give his life to protect her. Asking him to play along as her spouse in order to get a fair estimate is nothing when compared to dying for her. But, he had also did the favor of offering her a place to stay. How could she ask more of him?

_'One last ring and if he doesn't answer, hang up!' _she bargained with her mixed feelings.

The line rang a third time.

As she lowered the phone from her ear, she heard his familiar voice answer.

"Hello?"

She fumbled the phone while bringing it back to her ear. "Hi Kakashi. It's Sakura."

He sounded groggy. She didn't want to wake him up and yet she did. "Hey. What's going on?"

"I hate to do this to you..."

"You're not having second thoughts about staying here, are you?" There was some concern of her backing out evident in his voice.

"No. No. Nothing like that. I have a contractor coming over this afternoon."

"Great. When will you officially be my roommate?" His place was neat and clean to the guest that drops by for a visit. It would require a deep cleaning to accommodate someone moving in. He made a mental note to do his spring cleaning sooner than later.

"I'm not sure yet." She wanted to get out with it already before she lost her nerve. "The guy that is coming over sounded like he might have been a little shady. He asked me if _my husband_ would be here when he comes for the estimate. I told him that _he_ would be, so that he would give a fair estimate."

Kakashi chuckled. He already knew where this was leading. "And you need a stand in to play the husband part?"

She sighed deeply, indicating some irritation with the entire scenario. "I really hate having to ask this of you, but..."

"What time, Sakura?" he intervened for the second time this conversation.

"He'll be here at 1:00."

"I'll see you then." was his final assurance before hanging up the phone. He hadn't even given her the chance to thank him.

* * *

With her shower taken and the house tidied, Sakura had nothing left to do other than wait. The time was five minutes to 1:00 and she knew there was no possibility Kakashi would be on time. It just wasn't in his nature to appease anyone by being prompt. She often had to wonder if his persistent tardiness came with the intent of making a grand entrance or that perhaps he found some sort of satisfaction in pissing people off. She asked him a favor, which in turn he volunteered to comply. It was impossible for her to be mad at him when he had been the only consistent factor in her life as of recently. Besides, she already expected this outcome.

A knock came from her front door. From the pattern and rhythm, she knew it was not Kakashi. She was well aware of who it would be just from glancing over at the clock on the stove.

_'At least **some** people have their watches set for the same time.'_ She opened the door to a dark haired man who was likely middle aged and carrying a stack of papers.

"Hello. I'm Masa from Konoha Contracting. You must be..." his eyes nonchalantly gazed down to the writing tablet in his hand; hoping she did not notice. "...Sakura. A pleasure to meet you." He extended his arm to offer a firm handshake.

"The pleasure is all mine, Masa." she followed up politely while stepping aside from the door. "Please, come in. My husband is running a bit late, but he should be joining us shortly." She cringed at the latest title Kakashi had taken on for her.

Masa entered the foyer and took in his surroundings as Sakura stepped in front of him to lead him around the house.

"Can I get you anything? Perhaps a cup of tea?" she asked while motioning through the living room with her hands.

"Tea would be great. Thank you." Masa had answered.

The door opened before Sakura could turn from him and continue towards the kitchen.

"Hello sweetheart." In marched Kakashi, right past Masa and over to Sakura. He wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her forehead. "So sorry I am late. Hope I didn't miss too much."

"Hatake Kakashi! I had no idea you had gotten married." The man from behind him exclaimed. "When did this all take place?"

Sakura's eyes open wide and stared directly into Kakashi equally stunned exposed eye. He could have warned her that he'd enter acting the part. The abruptly unexpected kiss was shock enough, but the fact they agreeably lied to someone that apparently knew Kakashi was an equivalent jolt.

Kakashi slid his arm around Sakura's shoulder while adverting his attention to the man. Astonishment plastered over what little could be seen of his face as he greeted the voice.

"Masa!" He removed his arm from Sakura to perform a half hug/back pat and hand shake combination on the man. "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"Everything has been great. Things have really taken off since retiring from ANBU and dedicating all my time to the business. I hardly have time to see my family... So, business has been good. How about you?"

"Things couldn't be better. I had no idea my wife called your company. I'm glad she did... It's really great to see you."

He smiled over towards Sakura, who was eyeing both men back and forth. She was trying to decide if this acquaintance Masa and Kakashi shared was a good or bad thing. When she weighed it out, it seemed useful, yet she had to wonder if lying about being married would have it's repercussions down the road. She had to trust Kakashi's instincts. If he felt saying they were married was a benefit, then who was she to argue? He must have continued playing along for a reason.

She flashed a quaint smile at both men. "I'm going to excuse myself and get working on that tea." With a bow she was gone.

Kakashi turned back to Masa. "Please, have a look around. I am going to ask Sakura where she put all the swatches we made, so we can talk about what we need done."

Sakura overheard Kakashi's remark to Masa. Therefore she was not surprised when he joined her in the kitchen. She knew that he was playing the role she had asked him to play, but between acting as his wife and last night, she could not help feeling somewhat confused. She had been around this man almost half of her lifetime and felt nothing but the utmost respect for him and now she had to question her own feelings (and his intentions as well). Second guessing herself was a habit she _tried _to toss aside so many years ago.

_'Old habits die hard.' _she thought to herself while looking to her former sensei, knowing what he was going to ask of her.

"I have Masa looking around the house. He'll likely take measurements and draw diagrams of each room. I figured I could lend you a hand in here and we could look over your swatches when the tea is done." She nodded at him, agreeing that was a good enough plan. "I know Masa from being in ANBU. He's a straight- laced guy. His work is amazing. I don't think you'll need to worry about him trying to.."

"Then why, Kakashi?" she muttered. "Why then would you have continued this facade of us being a married couple? If I was just your friend, would that have made him a less honest businessman?"

"If I knew playing the role of your husband was going to be such a problem for you, I would have never offered to take the part." He paused for a moment, trying to read her long face. "I was simply letting you know, of all the contractors in Konoha, you picked the best. You have no need to question his integrity."

"It's not his integrity I am questioning. I don't even know him to judge him." she replied hotly.

"I see. So, you found a need to question mine... If you would like me to leave, Sakura, just say the word and I'm gone." There was a trace of genuine hurt in his voice.

"No. It's not you I'm questioning. It's myself. Sorry if it sounded like I meant you." Sakura truly felt bad for upsetting him. She pointed over to the butcher block island at the pile of papers and fabric samples. "Just grab those and let's go talk to him."

She grabbed her tray filled with the teapot and cups. Kakashi observed her questioningly. "By the way, thank you. You never let me thank you earlier on the phone."

"You know I'd do anything for you, Sakura." he murmured with all honesty.

She walked past him, feigning as if she did not hear his truthful words. He had proven to her on countless occasions as her teacher that he would indeed give his life for her. Dwelling would only complicate things further for her. Living with him was going to pose enough confusion.

_'Leave well enough alone.'_ she thought as she exited the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N:** I know this chapter was not fluffy or did much in the way of progression for the relationship. Well, it did a little... just not much. It had to happen though to move on to them eventually living at Kakashi's place. I will not be upset if you feel the need to tell me this chapter wasn't all that good. I'd rather you be honest and believe me, I can take it like a big girl. :)

I do want to thank all of you that took the time to read and review the last chapter. Your encouragement helps greatly in the motivation department.


	5. Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

Kakashi sat unmasked at his window seat with his latest _Icha Icha _novel in hand. A lone beam of sunlight made it's way between the curtain panels, forcing him to shut his eyes and absorb it's warmth like a cat would on a lazy day. Ordinarily Kakashi would find himself so engrossed in his book that he'd pay no mind to something he often took for granted, but the last three days left him as anything but ordinary. 

He pried open his right eye and dared to look directly at the setting sun. Rays of light splayed across the Konoha skyline in a plethora of color. They were all the result of the sun retiring after just another day. Orange and yellow formed the fiery blaze of light known as the sun, while sky blue faded artistically into purples. Then there was the pink that fought hard to hold it's position as a barrier between the sun and the sky. He thought about how pink is such a feminine, yet strong color. Much like Sakura and her unusual hair color.

Kakashi sighed. There it was again; thinking about the girl that has been such a large part of his life and his secret desire for so many years. Within the last few days he has let himself slip in front of her. He had been blatantly showing and telling her how he feels. Was it because he'd become careless in covering up his feelings? Or did it have more to do with her finally being a full grown woman who no longer had a childhood crush on a guy that would hardly offer her the time of day?

He decided it just didn't matter what the reasons were. He had given all of his life, from childhood on to serving and protecting the people of his home village. While his friends took a chance at some happiness in their twenties, he dedicated all his time and efforts in servicing Konoha while training it's youth to do the same in the future. All he wanted was something for himself now. A small selfish motion to follow all the difficult selfless acts of patriotism.

Now, soon he would have the one opportunity to find out if the cosmos were in his favor of obtaining that happiness. Within a weeks time he would have her living under the same roof. Years of watching her mature into the beautiful woman she has become only proved that it would not be easy to win her heart. He would have to be careful, cautious even, in showing Sakura that her former sensei was just the man capable of loving and cherishing her until his dying day.

The sun continued it's journey below the horizon. As the stronger rays leveled off with Kakashi's third floor apartment, it became increasingly difficult to watch. He closed his eyes with great content. The sun felt just as wonderful as it looked. A soft smile graced his lips as his contemplation of a relationship with Sakura continued. Kakashi had made his presence known to Sakura. She just had chosen not to respond to it yet.

* * *

A few blocks away, Sakura was exiting the lobby doors of the hospital. It was a fairly easy day with minor emergencies and no trauma victims. Days like this gave her plenty of time to catch up with her co-workers and their personal lives. On the other hand, it also gave her time to catch up on over due paperwork. Sakura opted to do a little of both, not to fall behind on either accounts.

She was all too excited to share the news that she was finally having the work done to her home and that construction would begin next Monday, which was just six days away. Yesterday's meeting with Masa was favorable and she wrote a check on the spot as a deposit. She only wished she had her samples to pass around and get everyone's opinion. With the work starting so soon, Masa had to take the swatches with him to order the supplies and have them delivered promptly.

If it wasn't for Kakashi, she truly had to wonder if things would have worked out the same. Probably not. Whether he knew Masa or not, his smooth talking worked in any situation. He seemed to always have a way of making even the worse scenarios turn out good. When it came to her or the other members of Team 7, Kakashi never fell short of being completely there for them. It was just his nature to take charge.

Walking to the end of the hospital's property, Sakura turned in the direction of Kakashi's apartment. She felt compelled to pay the man of her thoughts a visit. After all he has done for her, including opening his door and giving her a place to stay during the construction; the least she could do is officially thank him by taking him out to dinner. It wasn't the typical Sunday outing, being it was Tuesday. She had just seen him yesterday, but it was something she wanted to do as a thoughtful gesture.

She was starting to view her former sensei in a different light. He had nurtured her from a young age. Sure she loved and respected him in the utmost manner. It was a different kind of love though. It was the way a child would admire a hero. He was a role model of what it meant to be a well seasoned shinobi. Never before was he someone that made her heart pound uncontrollably or the palms of her hands sweat. She was acting more like a child now than she was back when she first met him.

Sakura could now see his building up ahead. She clenched her fists at the onset of perspiration.

_'It's just proper _thank you_ with a meal.' _she tried to convince herself._'.. and an unexpected visit.'_

Her throat swelled up with anxiety as she approached the door of Kakashi's building to the main stairwell. A barrage of 'what ifs' came one after another with every step up the flight of stairs. Maybe, she shouldn't have come here.

_What if he isn't home? ... Then he'd have no idea I was ever here._

_What if he was sleeping? ... This would not be the first time I woke him up._

_What if he seen enough of your face the last two days? ... I doubt that's the case._

_What if he already ate dinner?... I don't know._

She reached the top of the stairs and turned left down the hall.

_What if he says something endearing like "You know I'd do anything for you, Sakura.", like he did yesterday? ... Stop asking these questions._

Sakura stopped right in front of Kakashi's apartment door and lifted her hand, ready to knock.

_What if he makes another__ pass at you? Would you have enough courage to tear off his mask and kiss him? Would you sleep with him? Is this what you want?  
_

"Alright already!" Sakura shouted. "I've had just about _**enough**_!"

Her own questions and the lack of answers made her fierce and defensive. Before her fist made contact, the door swung open and a perplexed Kakashi examined the very heated kunoichi making so much noise in the hall. He quickly assessed that she was quite disheveled and was interested enough to find out what was going on.

"What have you had enough of?" he asked while leaning is hand on the door way for support.

Sakura's heart nearly jumped out of her chest in surprise. '_What if he opens the door before you knock?'_ was not a question with an answer on her list. Trying to catch her breath and embarrassed beyond compare, she simply stared at Kakashi.

"Alright then." he looked her over more in depth, making sure she was not harmed in any way. "Hello Sakura. How are you today?"

Sakura sheepishly raised a hand to tuck her mismanaged hair behind her ear. "Hello Kakashi." she stated calmly.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi ducked his head into the hall and looked both ways, confirming she was alone.

"I'm fine, thank you." she paused for a moment. Giving consideration that he opened the door before she could even knock, Sakura hoped she was not keeping him from something. "Were you just leaving?"

"No. I just heard feet pounding up the stairs and what sounded like an argument. Being you're alone, I am guessing you won that battle against yourself." Sakura bit her lip and felt like the world was growing larger by the second... or maybe it was that she was shrinking? He stood back from the door. "Would you like to come in?"

Sakura nodded and made use of the space he allowed for her to enter. His apartment was small in comparison to her house, but was still much larger than the typical housing most ninja lived in. Unlike a single room studio apartment, Kakashi's place had separate rooms for the kitchen, the living room and bedroom. Being one of Konoha's well used and most successful shinobi paid off and the proof was in his quality of living.

Kakashi winked at her. "So, did you come by to size up your new living space?"

Sakura hesitated, hoping she could say the right words. "Actually, I was on my way home from work and I decided to come over for dinner."

"I wasn't expecting company..." he started.

"Oh, no. I didn't mean that I came over as an uninvited guest."

"Sakura, you know you're always welcome. Had I known you.."

Sakura could hear the awkwardness in his voice from the position she inadvertently posed . "I want to take you out for dinner." she blurted out. "That is, if you didn't have plans or ate already. I would like to treat you to dinner as a formal 'thank you', for everything."

"I would love to join you for dinner." Kakashi retorted quickly without a second thought. "But you don't have to do this to thank me... Ask me because you want me there with you." His voice softened with the added ending.

"I do want you there with me." She sent him a reactionary glance. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Kakashi's eyes do not shift from her face for a second. "No." he said in a low voice.

She sounded so sincere. It was unlike any sounds he experienced from a woman declaring her desires during a lustful romp in the sack. He proceeded by smoothing his hand over and down her pink locks. "There's nothing wrong with that at all."

Sakura's eyes shut and she leaned her head into his gentle touch. _His_ Sakura- chan was allowing him to touch her in a way that was much too brazen for just a friendship. She wasn't his to claim. Her acceptance was an affirmation that she would not shun his affections away. It was a start in the right direction.

Kakashi pulled his hand away and smiled when she opened her eyes. "Let's go."

Sakura followed a few steps behind Kakashi down the stairs and out of his building. He paused at the street line and waited for her to catch up.

"So, little girl, where are we off to?"

"Little girl?" she asked more as an exclamation. "I do hope you realize I am 23 years of age, old man."

Kakashi placed his hand over his heart, feigning a painful death. "Is that how you really think of me, as an old man?"

"Come on now, Kakashi. You just referred to me as a little girl. Of course I am not going to let you get away with that so easily." She paused a moment thinking over the implications of being called a little girl. "But, you don't really view me as still being a child, do you?"

Kakashi glanced over at her by his side. Being she was concerned about it, he'd answer her, but not without egging her on first.

"Well, you still pout and have temper tantrums like you did when you were twelve." His eyebrow arched up in her direction awaiting her response.

"I do not." Sakura's face scrunched up into a scour. "I haven't pulled that in years." The distinct distaste for such an accusation was clear in her tone.

"Hmm. The only thing missing in that display was the crossing of your arms and a stomp of your foot." He wore a hidden smirk behind his mask.

"Whatever." She was annoyed and upset. "I guess that means you only think of me as a child when you're not busy grinding up on me."

Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks hearing her venomous reply. He wanted to tease her a bit, but he did not expect her to reply as she did. He hit a sore topic for her and to make matters worse, Sakura had unresolved feelings from Sunday night. He took advantage of the situation by letting his desires run wild. She never gave him permission to be that way with her, yet he did it with no explanation or agreement. It was his fault alone and he'd take the blame.

"Sakura, stop." His voice demanded her full attention and she was reluctant to comply. "I don't think of you as a little girl. You've grown into a woman... a smart and beautiful one at that."

Sakura dropped her attitude and listened closely. It was not often Kakashi paid anyone a compliment. She would remain silent until she was sure he was finished explaining his side of the story.

"I'm sorry about what happened the other night. I took what you were not willing to give and I did it in a not so gentleman-like way. I had no business making you feel uncomfortable or should have disrespected you in such a way."

She heard enough of his apology and was not about to stand there and listen to him grovel. She wanted answers. "Then why did you do it, Kakashi?" His eye lowered to the ground in a sort of shameful plea. "I need to know why you did that to me. All these years we've been around each other, why now? What changed?"

"You did." He muttered as he found enough dignity to look back at her inquisitive face. "You matured into the woman I always wished I had when I was younger. I let my own desires take over when I should have been more in control. It was wrong and I have no excuse for betraying you like that."

"How long?" Kakashi twisted his head to the side as if doing so would bestow a better understanding of what she was asking. "How long have you thought of me in this way?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"After your parents died you were not the insecure child that you always believed you were." He closed his eyes as he let out his final revelation to the pink haired woman before him. "When you asked me if I was tired of being alone, because you had been lonely for so long too, I had a tough time admitting it and nothing from that point on came out right."

Sakura reached out for his hand and took it gently with her own. "I don't need an apology for what took place. I just needed to understand why you did it."

She took a step forward so she was standing much closer than she normally would stand near her former sensei. "While we're admitting things we'd normally keep to ourselves, I'll admit until that night, I never thought of you as anything beyond a friend. You never betrayed me, Kakashi... and I do not believe you ever could."

Sakura released Kakashi's hand and watched as his eye reopened to focus on her. "I have no idea how to be with a man. No one has ever given me the chance to learn. All I can offer to you is myself... I know that I can trust you."

Kakashi gathered the cautious woman into his arms and brushed his lips across her forehead. "All I want is what you just offered me."

Sakura's trembling fingers rested upon his biceps. She closed her eyes and exhaled all the pent up tension she felt throughout this conversation. "Please, be patient with me."

Kakashi felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest. "I promise."

* * *

**A/N: **There you have it... Chapter 5 and a some closure?? I apologize for the long wait on this chapter. FF is giving many people a hard time with uploading documents. I had to export a file (story chapter), delete the content and then copy and paste this chapter in it's place ,, in order to post it. I hope by offering this information, perhaps other author's with the same issue (and actually are reading this story) might be able to work around it. 

I hate to bust chops about this, but it's really disheartening to put so much work into this story, see how many hits it's getting, have tons of people mark it for alerts or as a favorite and get virtually little to no feedback. I have plenty of ideas for future short stories and I will put this story aside to work on those if this is going to keep happening. I would however, like to thank those have reviewed.


	6. The Air Is Getting Slippery

**Disclaimer: **I do not Naruto or any of it's characters.

I would like to thank every one that has reviewed. I would also like to point out a few reviewers that caught some not-so hidden things in the last chapter:

-moodiful819, dampirecat and Caitiy - Noticed something no one else did. (You'll know what it was after this chapter)

-Asuka02redeva – You picked up on the color-coded symbolism about the sky and Team 7.

Thanks for being so patient in waiting for this chapter.

* * *

"Sakura!" _Thwack!_

The sleepy kunoichi jumped out of her seat between the shouting of her name and the reverberation of what was definitely something heavy slamming down on her desk's surface. She raised an arm to wipe the drool that covered a good portion of her left cheek.

"I know it's been a slow day around here, but you're not getting paid to sleep when you have paperwork to do... that should have been handed in last week." a stern, feminine voice spoke heatedly at her.

Sakura adjusted her eyes until the very pissed off 5th Hokage came into her line of vision. "I'm sorry Tsunade- sama. I promise to have those to you by the end of the week."

"And no later." was her mentor's speedy reply.

Sakura avoided eye contact with Tsunade for as long as she could. She used her hands to smooth out her sleep- enhanced hairdo while taking notice of the new and rather thick medical journal on her desk.

She accredited her current headache to it while adjusting to the pounding behind her eyes.

She could feel the scrutinizing stare down she was receiving and did not have her bearings in place to face up to Tsunade in wrath- mode. If she looked her in the eye it might be interpreted as sheer defiance. Looking down at the floor would likely be taken as she was not paying attention or that she had gone back to sleep. Sakura decided that keeping her head somewhere between half up and half down would likely aid in keeping Tsunade's temper at bay.

"Next time you decide to take a nap.." A deafening pause in the reaming ensued. Which could only mean that a more substantial (or demeaning) line was sure to follow. "...try not to mumble incoherently about romantic fantasies between you and that hentai, Kakashi. I've got an emergency room full of giggling nurses, not doing their jobs because of you."

Sakura snapped her head up. If her eyes opened any wider she was sure they'd clearly fall out of her skull. She must have been talking in her sleep. Not just any sort of talk, but the type that creates rumors and spreads like weeds. Now the entire hospital knows that she secretly pines for Kakashi's affections... or does she? She slapped her hand over her eyes (hoping to keep them in their appropriate eye socket) and ran it down her face in disbelief.

"Care to tell me what that was all about?" Tsunade asked persuasively while trying to read Sakura's horrified face.

Sakura averted her sites on Tsunade's sly expression. "I assure you it was nothing, Shishou. It was just some crazy dream." Sakura nodded in agreement to the words that seemingly just poured out of her mouth like vomit. "Kakashi... Who could think of him as anything other than an asexual palm jockey with all that smut he reads?"

"_Palm jockey? Where the hell did that come from?" _Inner Sakura repeated. _"You're going straight to hell for this one... You. Big. Fat. Liar!"_

Tsunade skeptically arched an eyebrow towards her subordinate. She didn't even want to fathom where her star pupil learned such lingo, nor did she want to know if Sakura knew for sure that Kakashi spent much of his time masturbating. "Go home Sakura... I'd tell you to get some sleep, but being you got plenty right here on your desk, I doubt you'll need any more."

"Hai." Thankful for small miracles, Sakura politely bowed her way out of this awkward conversation to gather her belongings.

She could hear the muted snickers from behind quieting hands, covered over mouths and see the occasional snickering that took place as she cross the emergency pavilion and exited the hospital's front doors. She'd deal with the rumors tomorrow. Escape was the best plan she had and she was not afraid to use it.

* * *

As the sunset concluded, Kakashi found himself bored once again. Looking to his side at the little orange book, filled with secret pleasures of the flesh; he thought twice about picking it up. It wasn't as if he had not already read it before. In fact, he had read it so many times, he could practically recite page for page by memory alone.

Kakashi stood from the window seat and stretched out his legs. Perhaps he should have a talk with Jaraiya and convince him that he was worthy of a pre-release copy of the next _Icha Icha_ book. After all, he was Jaraiya's #1 fan. It would be good business for the elder shinobi to cater to his following; whom in turn would spread nothing but good reviews.

As the phone rang, Kakashi was suddenly relieved from the idea of groveling for a new book. He swiftly made his way into the kitchen and grabbed the phone on the third ring.

"Yo."

"Hey amigo." It was his senbon wielding friend and fellow shinobi, Genma. "What are you up to?"

"Well, you know." Kakashi started with his normally droll tone. "The usual, I suppose... chasing down S- rank criminals, wining and dining beautiful women and helping poor old ladies find their cats. One at time."

On the other end of the phone, Genma rolled his eyes. "So, basically, you're doing absolutely nothing."

"You know me well." Kakashi chuckled back. "What's going on with you?"

"Not too much. The guys are all going out for a few drinks. I was calling to see if you were up to coming along."

Kakashi mused over the proposal of hanging out with friends. "Sounds like a plan." He looked over to his kitchen table, seeing a shiny gold key resting in the center.

"Gai went on a date last night with that hot kunoichi from the Mist. You know which one I'm talking about..." Genma stopped to think of a better description. "The one that's been in Konoha to register the Mist's chuunin for the exam... The one with the enormous tits and legs that go on for miles."

"Yeah, yeah.. I know which one you're talking about. I wonder how much it took to bribe her to go out with him." He picked up the key and rolled it around his nimble fingers before depositing back onto the table once again.

"I have no idea, but I'd do her... Supposedly, according to him, they had a good time. I'm sure we'll all have to hear the gory details." Genma cringed thinking about Gai being an eccentric fool and embarrassing the poor woman publicly. That's not saying he, himself has never done the same before in an inebriated state. It just sounded creepier when it's _The _Maito Gai of Konoha. Besides, even if he had ever made a fool of himself, he knew exactly what to say to charm the pants off any woman. He doubted Gai had ever seen a naked woman before- which is likely why he has no clue how to treat the ladies.

There was silence between the two elite ninja. Kakashi looked back at the key once more. "As tempting as it might be, I'm going to have to take a rain check for tonight."

Not believing he was told 'yes' and suddenly told 'no', the confused shinobi faltered while speaking. "Ah... bu... You just said you'd come.. huh.. But... It's not often Gai gets a date. This could be some valuable and entertaining material... He might not be a virgin anymore."

"Oh, I know that." Kakashi spoke matter of factly. "All the more reason that you'll all have to understand I have something very important to do." He picked up the key and closed his hand around it tightly. "I'll try to catch up to you guys later after I get done."

Asking specifics of any ninja was almost always forbidden and knowing Kakashi was not a man to be swayed, Genma gave in easily. "Alright, man. We'll keep a seat for you."

Already knowing he wouldn't be making an appearance, Kakashi pretended as if he would to politely back out. "Catch you later then."

Both men then hung up the phone, ending the call. One of them held a key, that was currently being deposited into one of the many pockets on his vest. The other sat staring at the phone on the desk wondering what Kakashi was up to... and if it was really worth missing a night out with the boys.

Kakashi pulled up his mask and adjusted his hitai- ate. He might have the week off from serving his village, but he had a mission of his own to go out on. After zipping his vest, he walked out the front door and took to the streets of his beloved village.

* * *

Shortly after arriving home, Sakura utilized any energy she had left into 'undecorating' her house. Starting with the family room, she pulled all the pictures off the walls and carefully wrapped the collectibles from the curio in old newspaper. Before she knew it, she was in a practically empty room; apart from the few pieces of furniture she had draped sheets over.

She sat in the middle of the room with her legs crossed; something she never really took the time to do. She imagined that sitting on the floor like this offered the same perspective she would have had as a child. It seemed huge, uninviting and yet, this was her home. It was much too big for just one person and for a moment she had wondered if renovating it was a mistake over the alternative of selling it.

Her parents had bought it with raising a family in mind. Her mother was rendered infertile after a botched up emergency cesarean. The doctor who delivered her had accidentally nicked her mother's bladder with the scalpel after cutting into her uterus, spreading endometrial tissue throughout her cavity. By the time her parents were ready to try for their second child, the endometriosis had spread to her ovaries. Their dreams of a big family ended with Sakura.

If the fact they could not have any more children bothered them, they never let it show. They cherished their pink haired little sweetheart; involving themselves so deeply within her life that Sakura had never had the chance to feel lonely. Anything Sakura got into, her parents were always first in line to support her all the way. She always felt loved and wanted by them. And now she felt so alone in a place that held all of her memories of the two people who loved her back, unconditionally.

A tear slid down her pale cheek; shortly followed by an onslaught of others. She couldn't begin to count how many times since their deaths that she wanted to talk to them or just needed a comforting hug or stroke of her hair. It is said that when you lose someone you love you always miss them, but as time goes on coping becomes easier. Sakura silently questioned when that easier time would come.

Sakura was drawn from her sentiment with a knock upon the door. Dragging her hands across her wet eyes she smeared the tears across her face, hiding all evidence . Whoever came visiting did not need to feel some sort of obligation to comfort her. It's not what she wanted anyhow. What didn't kill her, killed her parents.. the incident that made her realize crying over the 'small stuff' just wasn't worth it. She'd be damned if she let her old- self show.

Standing in front of the mirror in the foyer, she wisped her bangs around her eyes to cover the puffy redness that crying had brought about. It was the best she could come up with on short notice and it would just have to do.

She unlocked the deadbolt and swung the door open to find a happily creased eye pointed in her direction.

"Yo." was his usual and generic greeting. Even so, it was familiar to her and it seemingly never lost it's hilarity after all these years. It was an instant 'pick me up'.

Mocking him with a deepened voice and raising a single hand, Sakura mimicked playfully. "Yo. Kakashi."

"Are you going to invite me in or just stand there making fun of me?" he deadpanned back.

Sakura pushed her back against the door and bowed while dramatically rolling her arm in invitation into the house. Kakashi followed her lead while shaking his head in amusement.

"And what brings you to this side of town?" She tapped her index finger to her chin. "Let me guess... You got roped into carrying some old lady's shopping bags and figured you'd drop in,being you were in the neighborhood?"

"Something like that." He hadn't missed the red around her eyes or her out of the ordinary behavior. He'd seen her cry so many times before. Did she think he was so naive that he would not notice? "What's the matter, Sakura?"

She lied. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." Lying was not her forte. She knew it and she knew he knew it too. She turned and walked toward the den.

"Nothing might be wrong at this given moment but, your face is telling me otherwise." He followed closely behind her, not knowing if she was avoiding the conversation by walking away and ignoring him. "I can tell you were crying. So, why don't you tell me what _was_ wrong just a while ago? That is, being _nothing_ is wrong as of now."

She stopped and turned her attention back to him. Motioning with her hand, rather than using her words she showed him the empty family room. He nodded his head, understanding her emotional predicament. He had been down this road so many years ago after his father's death. Removing personal effects of the deceased is what makes the reality of them being gone finally sink in. It didn't matter that it had been years; all of this change is what made it finalized.

"Honestly, I didn't think this would be an easy thing to do. I just figured if I concentrated on packing things away quickly, I wouldn't have time to feel bad." She didn't feel like dwelling on a rather unhappy topic. He had come over to her place. He must have had something to tell her and here she was bringing the poor guy down. "By the way, you never answered me before."

Kakashi cocked his head to the side, "Hmm?" He heard her. He was more curious about her sudden change of subject. Was she afraid that she might cry again? Should it matter to her if she did break down in front of him?

"What are you doing here?" As soon as she said it Sakura suddenly regretted how rude that must have sounded and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Kakashi eyed her as if she just slapped him across the face, unprovoked. Her mind screamed, _"Fix it!"_

"You sort of brushed it off earlier- not that I'm unhappy to see you. I mean you're always welcome here. And of course I'm glad you're here." There it was again- word vomit. It seemed to be her infliction of the day.

Kakashi's face brightened as if a light bulb somewhere in his head had gone off on it's timer. "That's right." He began digging in one of the many small pockets on his vest, until he was able to produce the gold key. "I came by to give you this." he said dropping it into her hand. "You're going to need it if you want to get into my apartment... I mean, our apartment. I want you to feel as if it's your home too."

With a gracious smile, she reached out to meet his hand and take the key. "Thank you." She didn't doubt his sincere gesture of wanting her to be comfortable . If she felt at home in his apartment, it would be easier to get along.

Silence laced with some hesitation ensued before Kakashi finally spoke up. "So, what do you have planned for the rest of the night?"

"I was going to try to clear some more of this stuff out." Thinking about her prior episode, Sakura thought better of what she should do. "But being I seem to get sidetracked easily, I think I'll wait until tomorrow and call Ino to see if she could help me out."

He put his hand up to his chin in thought. "Why wait for tomorrow to get some help?"

Sakura stole a glance at the clock in the kitchen. "Knowing Ino, she's already out for the night." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't dream of taking her away from countless male strangers."

"Who said anything about Ino?" He unzipped his vest and discarded it on one of the sheet covered sofas. It was apparent she needed a friend now. Not tomorrow, after Ino emerged from her hangover and decided she had time for Sakura.

Asking Kakashi hadn't crossed her mind. "Oh,no... I couldn't. Really Kakashi, you've done so much for me already." There it was again. This awkward tone that tells him she is afraid to share things with him.

"I guess you'll just owe me big."

He wasn't about having it. She was going to live with him for a few months. If she felt the need to cry, she should. He never judged her for it before, he wasn't going to start now. She needed to see him as more than and acquaintance or former sensei. He was her friend and a better one than Ino. Tonight she was going to learn that, first handed.

* * *

_Fin._


	7. Glass Sandwich

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

Color samples of various shades of pink littered the counter top at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. It was ten minutes to quitting time and Ino found her patiences wearing thin. She wanted to get showered and over to the hospital for her part time shift.

"What do you think of this color, Ino dear?" she heard her mother calling to her from the front of the store. Ino was trying her hardest to scrub her green stained fingers; from handling flowers all morning.

"It's pink, Mom." She barked out while making her way up front. "Pink is pink. No matter what variation- it's still pink."

Her mother scowled at her and turned her attention back to the man who was to do the painting for the store. "I want something serene and calming... something that reminds me of spring and will compliment the flower displays."

Masa picked up a swatch and passed it over the business owner, in hopes his professional opinion would be the right choice for her needs. "What do you think of this one?"

"Blech." Ino gazed over her mother's shoulder and pointed her finger to her mouth, with her tongue hanging out in a gagging motion. "That's too close to Forehead's hair color." Masa lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at the reference of pink hair.

"I don't know where you get your miserable attitude from." The older woman swatted her hand at her daughter's gesture. "Is that a way to talk about your friend? Sakura's been such a good friend to you. I bet she doesn't say such things about you."

Ino just rolled her defiant eyes at her mother for suggesting anything good about Sakura. She had to wonder sometimes, just who her mother liked better.

Putting the name Sakura and pink hair together, Masa's curiosity got the best of him. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about Sakura Hatake, would you? I just met her the other day- and she is the only person I have ever seen with pink hair."

Both women immediately quit their bickering and stared at Masa as if he just sprouted several heads- Ugly ones at that.

"Haruno. Sakura Haruno. Not Hatake." Ino corrected him. "Kakashi Hatake was her sensei. They're not married."

Masa's face turned pale. "Her sensei?" He never pegged Kakashi as the marrying type, none the less a man that would cross such boundaries with a student. Still, being a reasonable man with experience in matters of the heart, he knew himself that a man can not help who he falls in love with.

Ino's mother chimed in. "It would be a sin! He's trained her since she was a little girl. There's no way the Hokage would approve of such a union."

"Oh, no." Masa argued back; waving off her disapproval of old fashioned taboos. "They're married. I am doing a huge job over at Sakura's place so the newly weds can move in together."

Ino's eyes went wide. She knew her childhood friend wanted nothing more than to have her parents place renovated- so that much was true. What she could not understand is that if what Masa was saying is true, why would she not have known about the two even dating. Never to mention having had a wedding and not have her there.

"As her best friend, I assure you I would have been in her wedding party." She was beside herself thinking of the nerve of Sakura getting married and not having her as the maid of honor. "I would have at least known they were a couple!"

Remembering what Kakashi had told him, Masa proceeded to calm the furious girl that stood before him. "From what I gather, it was a private ceremony to protect the better interests of both parties."

And of course being Ino, she could only take his chance of 'saving grace' as a way of brushing her off. "Protecting better interests- My ASS!"

Without warning or notice, Mrs. Yamanaka issued an audible smack across her daughter's face. "Ino! I did not raise you to speak like a street urchin!"

Fumed to a point that she could not feel the raging heat from being slapped, Ino looked over both her mother and her decorating bearer of bad news, Masa before grabbing her purse and marching out of the shop. She decided it would be wiser to go right to the source.

* * *

"Hatake? Are you even listening to me?"

Kakashi perked his eye up as much as his droopy lid would allow him. Sure he was listening- That is, he was listening to Genma talk about Gai's date until he got up to the point where the kunoichi from Mist got down on her knees and began her struggle to get his trademark green leotard off. Some things are just better off unheard.

"I heard every word you said." And just for the record, some of those things should also never be repeated.

Genma rolled his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. His lips drawn into a lopsided smirk. He was aware Kakashi was not listening at all. But, ribbing him for ditching his friends the night prior was the first course of action on his mental "To Do" list. Fate played its part by making Kakashi available for lunch immediately after Genma literally bumped into him on the street. God damn it, if he had to listen to Gai reenact the play by play; Kakashi would have to endure his abridged version.

The cute waitress that had been tending to them returned to their table once again. "Can I get you anything else?" she had asked of them both.

"I'll take another beer." He nudged his chin in Kakashi's direction. "My friend here would like a doggy bag- so he has something to pack his bullshit in."

Kakashi passed a sympathetic head shake at the waitress for Genma's verbal assault. She grinned at the sarcastic jounin and feigned accidentally slapping the back of his head with her notepad as she walked away.

Rubbing the back of his head, Genma called out to her distancing derrière. "That's a sure way to lose your tip, missy."

Kakashi rolled an eye at his friend's arrogance and about ten feet from where they sat, the waitress stopped dead walking. She appeared to be scribbling something on her notepad; though it was hard to tell from the back of her. Then again, it wasn't as if Genma was watching the upper half of her body as Kakashi was.

She ripped the page off and turned her attention back to the smart mouthed shinobi. Folding the page in half, she leaned down and used her most sultry voice possible. "You should know by now that I was never after your money, Shiranui-sama. Unfortunately, you do have to pay for what you eat and drink here."

Although her mouth was a mere few inches from his ear, Genma remained completely unmoved by her outright motives. It was his keen tactic for getting the women to want him- act like nothing phased him and it made them want him more. Kakashi knew of this old trick however and released an elaborate (and annoyed) breath before whipping out his ever present book to allow his womanizing friend do his business without being a third wheel.

Most people use bookmarks to easily find the place they last left off reading. After reading a book so many times he had it memorized, Kakashi was not one of those people. Any random page would do. His page selection landed on an illustration of the main male character admiring the object of his desire dancing happily with herself. It was a far cry from being a voyeuristic sort of situation. Judging from the man's expression, he felt nothing but a great sense of ardor for this woman. It was pure and simple- a realization that not one, but all the things about this free spirited lady was what he loved so much about her.

Kakashi stared through the image and thought of his previous night with Sakura. He knew so much about her from all the years of training together, but he had found that he really got to know the true woman for the first time last night. While packing, they laughed over the times from their yesteryears and cried over all the losses they had encountered- together and alone. They shared so much more than they ever allowed each other to know. It wasn't like a training session where a new jutsu was presented or on a mission where food rations were low and they offered their own portions to one another. They freely spoke of their truest feelings and it was the most honest situation a man who kills for a living could find himself in.

Finally when Sakura spoke of her parents and how it was worse than any pain she had ever experienced, she cried the hardest. And that is when he felt the overwhelming desire to embrace this girl- no, this woman and comfort her. He couldn't help to think how many years she needed to get this all out and yet no one, not even he was there for her to do so. He found himself repeating a mantra of "It's alright. I'm here for you" with one hand splayed across her lower back and the other tangled in her mess of pink hair as he drew her close to his chest.

It was his words and soothing voice that had calmed her onslaught of sadness. And when she looked up to meet his gaze with glistening tears streaming down her pale face, he saw everything the main character in the drawing had seen in his beloved woman. The only notable difference was that Sakura, unlike the fictitious woman, was real and standing before him.

If the foreign fear of rejection wasn't of any factor, Kakashi swore he could have mustered up enough nerve to actually kiss her. But the pang in the bottom of his stomach told him rejection from _this _woman would be tenfold worse than from any other woman he might have felt something for in the past. Opting to hold her close was safer than creating a situation that might compromise their future living arrangement- and smarter than diving face first into what could potentially be the biggest let down in his romance department.

Movement from across the table jerked him out of his reverie and Kakashi watched the backs of Genma and the waitress walking out of the restaurant hand in hand. He shook his head at the lack of tactfulness his buddy employed in courting women; yet it worked like a charm every time. Seeing Genma constantly get woman after woman when all he wanted was one woman in particular was a bit disheartening. Aside from the cheap grope he took on Sakura while playing pool, he found himself having great difficultly crossing the line of friendship and into romance. He supposed it had more to do with being rejected, which really was never something he worried about, but he also firmly believed in a first time for everything.

On the table was a piece of paper with Genma's handwriting on the backside. All it said was, "Payback's a bitch!" Flipping it over, he saw it was the bill from their lunch- something he normally ducked out of having to pay.

Yep. There was a first time for everything.

* * *

Carrying an armful of charts, Sakura made her way from the infirmary to the nurse's station; where Ino was entering patient data into the computer. Plucking the lollipop out of her mouth, before Sakura could even greet her, Ino began to drill her as if her part time position was more significant than Sakura's own.

"You wouldn't happen to have Chouza Akamichi's file in that pile of yours; would you?" Raising the corner of her eye to point in Sakura's direction.

Sakura glanced down at her pile quickly, not even bothering to read the names on each label. "He was discharged four days ago- His information should already have been entered and the folder should be at the hall of records by now."

"Oh." A devious smile covered Ino's face. "I wanted to know for sure if he really was here due to a stomach infection from eating poisonous berries while on a mission."

"Why would you need to know that if you're only entering insurance information?" She was becoming annoyed with her long time friend/foe. Knowledge of patients conditions was not necessary for the girl's job, so she had no good reason to ask personal questions.

"Oh, I was just looking for a reason to tease Choji about being from a long line of gluttonous fat-asses."

Quickly moving from being annoyed to flat out peeved, Sakura began rattling off the "Right To Privacy Act" Konoha strictly employed. "You should know better than that Ino- diagnosis, treatment and financial status of patients is strictly forbidden from being made public."

Nodding her head in agreement, Ino decided to help her finish the list of conditions. "Right- And let's not forget martial status, Mrs. Hatake."

Dropping the folders onto the desktop, Sakura gaped while Ino beamed with indignation.

"It's alright though- I can understand why you'd want to have a private ceremony. You know, with marrying your teacher and all." Ino's tone was much too piercing to be considered sarcastic. "What I can't get is why you wouldn't even let me know; none the less _forget _toinvite me- your best friend- to your wedding."

"It's not like that at all.." Sakura stopped mid sentence to get to heart of the matter. "Where on Earth did you.."

"Oh, a little birdie named Masa told me." Her face was turning red and tiny blond hairs were popping out of Ino's normally smooth ponytail. "You know, the guy doing the work at your house while you and Kakashi shack up a la honeymoon style at his place. He just happens to also be the one painting the flower shop."

For the life of her, Sakura could not place what came over her at that very moment. But, she was not going to let Ino's shitty attitude make her feel bad- especially over something that was for the most part, untrue. For once she had one up on the girl and an opportunity not taken is an opportunity wasted.

"Well, Ino." Sakura folded her arms over her chest and shot back the same treatment she had been on the receiving end of for much too long. "You're completely right about our exchanging of vows being a private matter. Which is precisely why we did not invite anyone that might jeopardize our wishes. Perhaps if you weren't such a big- mouthed instigator, we might had you as a witness."

And with that, Sakura turned on her heels and went down the west wing of her unit to look after her waiting patients- leaving behind an extremely boiled Ino Yamanaka. The only sound heard was the sound of her name echoing through the halls of the hospital; that could be heard over any medical equipment in any given ward. It was Ino's way of getting the last word in.

Saying such things, no matter how mad she might be, was wrong. It was bad enough the lie itself was created to get faster, cheaper and more quality work done on her home. Now with Ino the Town Crier believing a lie to be the truth, the little white lie was going to spread like a wildfire and eventually make it back to Kakashi's ears.

It didn't matter that it was a lie that stemmed from _his _mouth. It was one that she could have easily denied and explained the reason of its origination to Ino, rather than shoot her mouth off. She should have been less worried about the rumor making it back to Kakashi and more concerned that a rumor of her being secretly married to her former sensei even existed. The idea didn't bother as much as it should and she brushed it aside to get back to work.

Maybe the idea of being with him really wasn't one to be considered offensive anymore. Or maybe she should start admitting to herself just how much she really wouldn't mind a rumor of herself and Kakashi as a couple to be true.

She'd just make sure she forewarned Kakashi about the impending confrontations he'd soon face, as she was sure Ino would make sure every active ninja in the village knew her and Kakashi's "secret".

* * *

**A/N:** My apologies for such a late updating... and also for the confusion of writing "fin" at the end of the previous chapter. I wrote it in reference to the chapter ending.

I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed and also placed this story on alert. Your interest in this story has motivated me to write; however I do not have nearly as much time as I used to. I will alternate writing "Never Alone" and "40 Weeks" from here on out. I can not promise dates for updating, but I will eventually finish both stories. I thank you all for your patience and kindness.


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